KEY COMICS PURCHASED OFF NEWSSTAND, KEPT BY CHICAGO COLLECTOR SINCE BOYHOOD
Robert Huber was born in Chicago in 1923, the child of German immigrants. As a boy, he was soon whisked away by the comics at his local newsstand in the Fuller Park neighborhood.
EVENT
COMICS & COMIC ART SIGNATURE® AUCTION 7209
May 16-18, 2019
Live: Chicago
Online: HA.com/7209a
INQUIRIES
Matt Griffin
214.409.1694
MattG@HA.com
“Being a big reader, he started with all the Big Little Books he could get his hands on,” says Matt Griffin, comics consignment director at Heritage Auctions. “Then, at age of 12, he started picking up comic books. It just so happened to be the beginning of the Golden Age.”
Among the comics he purchased for 10 cents each were Superman #1 and Batman #1. The copies remained in his home until Huber, who worked at Illinois Central Railway and operated a TV/radio repair shop, passed away in 1993. Kept in the care of Huber’s family, the comics are featured in Heritage’s comics and comic art auction scheduled for May. Huber’s Superman comic is tied for the highest-graded, unrestored copy ever sold at Heritage.
It’s expected that Huber’s 20-cent investment 80 years ago will turn into half a million dollars when bidding is done.
“It’s always special when an original owner collection goes to auction,” Griffin says. “When it comes to these key issues, that makes these treasures even more special.”
This article appears in the Spring/Summer 2019 edition of The Intelligent Collector magazine. Click here to subscribe to the print edition.